The sun shines on what could be GIBRALTAR'S BIGGEST PROBLEM

When The Sun, which is Britain's largest selling paper, publishes an Exclusive about the frontier issue, what do we get from Gibraltar's political world? Nothing!

The writer of the piece was Tom Newton Dunn, the paper's Political Editor, who often appears on British TV reviewing the papers, so what he says must carry some weight.

And what has he said about Gibraltar?

That there are emergency talks under way with Spain to prevent Brussels from strangling Gibraltar with No Deal Brexit border logjam.

Given the silence, are we not concerned that Brexit could bring us a border logjam? Or is it that we don't believe anything until it hits us?

We did well in reproducing the report in question, such as that 'an EU Commission edict is demanding that passports of all travellers between Britain and the EU must be stamped if the UK leaves without an agreement, including into the Rock.'

We are reminded that 15,000 workers and others cross into Gibraltar every weekday morning using just one entrance.

A senior Gibraltar government source told The Sun: “If Brussels purposely tries to snarl things up just to spite Britain, it will be a total s***show.

“Almost nobody will get in or out. The Spanish won’t be able to come in to work. Spain doesn’t want that, and neither do we, which is why we are talking to them now.”

Unless a solution is found to such a massive problem, we will be faced with it - won't we?

Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also issued a No Deal statement in response to a claim in a leaked UK government report that border queues could be four hours long.

NOT A BED OF ROSES

Chief minister Picardo said: “Being out of the EU, especially falling out without a Withdrawal Agreement, is not a bed of roses and there will be some disruption.

“A no-deal Brexit is bad for Gibraltar and it is bad for the United Kingdom and the EU. I urge all parties to work to avoid such a scenario, but if a no-deal Brexit does happen, we are ready for it.”

Of course, we are also being told that what the Sunday Times leaked was based on old hat.

The EU Commission’s edict about passport stamps was issued on March 25 this year, ahead of the initial Brexit deadline.

But trhe new Brexit deadline is drawing closer by the day, and if no agreement is reached on that one, passports will be stamped both when you enter the EU and when you leave it; that is, when you enter or leave Spain.

We are told that the Spaniards do not want their own people facing frontier queues when they come to Gibraltar to work, for example. It is neither in our interest, as Mr Picardo has mentioned.

NO RECIPROCITY?

But Madrid is not incapable of suggesting that Spanish workers are EU nationals, and the rest of us will not be so once Brexit bangs. Will they think out a scheme whereby their nationals will come in without impediment, while the rest of us will not?

And if they don't stamp their own, because they are EU nationals, what will the Gibraltar authorities do? Will they sit back and watch the world go by, or would we reciprocate, by stamping those who enter British territory from the EU?

I won't say just yet what the answer would be except that, silence is not golden...